He entered to a round of applause, Pat Hill giving an emotional 18-minute farewell address to Fresno, one day after being fired as head coach of the Bulldogs football team.
"As I say goodbye, thank you for everything."
"We had two losing seasons the last 13 years. We didn't finish the job. I'll take responsibility for that."
Hill said he was proud of his accomplishments after winning 112 games in 15 seasons, guiding the dogs to 11 bowl games and in 2001 gaining national attention when the dogs climbed to number 8 in the national rankings. But he did more than coach football, he changed the academic culture of the program by improving the team's graduation rates. He also brought big time football to Fresno State.
"We obviously haven't won every game we've played in some of the greatest venues in the country against some of the best teams in the country."
"We entered the ring, we gave it our best shot. Didn't finish it, but I would much rather have had the fight than thought about it and just talked about it."
Despite a 4 and 9 record this season and going just 8 and 22 against bowl eligible teams since 2006, hill pointed out that prior to this year, only 23 other schools in the country have more wins than Fresno State in the last decade.
"I gave it my best shot for 15 years. It wasn't good enough. I hope the next man can come in and take you where you want to go."
In saying his final goodbye, Hill thanked the fans, the community, and Fresno State. He became emotional when he thanked his players.
"The players that wore that red helmet, next to my family, meant more to me than anything."
"I told the team yesterday, give the next coach everything you've got. Hopefully the fans, the media and this administration will back him and hopefully it will be a be a better place for these young men. That's all I care about."
Pat Hill is not sure what his future holds, but make no mistake, he still has a passion for the game and he will coach again.
"Thank you for everything you've done for me, it's been great. Good bye Fresno."
TXT 24
Twitter
Facebook